Looking for lights

[Willie-Nillie]

I need some lights for my boat where is the best place to buy them?

[carpsniper]

Well that totally depends on what you want and what kind of money you want to spend.

The least expensive lights are the Halogens. You can pick up work light fixtures for around $10 each. The thing I like about Halogens (other than they're cheaper) isthat you can find bulbs at just about any hardware, home center and Walmart. Their downside is that they take the most power per lumen of light.

Then there are the HPS (High Pressure Sodium) and MH (Metal Halide) lights. These put out huge amounts of light per watt of electricity. Their downside is that they're more expensive, heavier and even though they are more accessable than they used to be, you can't expect to find spares in the middle of the night if you broke some and want to keep fishing.

I've seen threads on LED's but so far it does not look like they are ready for what we need. I also saw a florescent fixture and bought one to try because it said that it was equal to a 300 watt halogen and took just 60 watts. 60 watts!!! It looked great in the driveway, but on the lake it was disappointing. Now it's lighting my garage.

I have halogen work light fixtures on my boat. And as long as I can find 225 watt bulbs, that's what I will stick with. If / when I can no longer find these bulbs, I'll be more likely to consider a change.

Hope that helps.

[deer_predator]

Originally Posted by carpsniper

Well that totally depends on what you want and what kind of money you want to spend.

The least expensive lights are the Halogens. You can pick up work light fixtures for around $10 each. The thing I like about Halogens (other than they're cheaper) isthat you can find bulbs at just about any hardware, home center and Walmart. Their downside is that they take the most power per lumen of light.

Then there are the HPS (High Pressure Sodium) and MH (Metal Halide) lights. These put out huge amounts of light per watt of electricity. Their downside is that they're more expensive, heavier and even though they are more accessable than they used to be, you can't expect to find spares in the middle of the night if you broke some and want to keep fishing.

I've seen threads on LED's but so far it does not look like they are ready for what we need. I also saw a florescent fixture and bought one to try because it said that it was equal to a 300 watt halogen and took just 60 watts. 60 watts!!! It looked great in the driveway, but on the lake it was disappointing. Now it's lighting my garage.

I have halogen work light fixtures on my boat. And as long as I can find 225 watt bulbs, that's what I will stick with. If / when I can no longer find these bulbs, I'll be more likely to consider a change.

Hope that helps.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

[karter]

We got our HPS lights here, good prices, quality products.

http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EFamily.asp

[1Shot2Kills]

Are you looking to buy online or locally? If locally let me know where you're located in Illinois and I'll see what vendors are in your area that might have something useful.

[Willie-Nillie]

Yeah in the Springfield, Taylorville or Decatur area if possible.

Thanks for all the input from everyone......nice to learn from some people that know the do's and don'ts and are willing to share their info.

[deer_predator]

Originally Posted by Willie-Nillie

Yeah in the Springfield, Taylorville or Decatur area if possible.

Thanks for all the input from everyone......nice to learn from some people that know the do's and don'ts and are willing to share their info.

What types of lights are you wanting to run? Halogen, HPS, MH?

What size Generator are you going to run?